Not Applicable
Not Applicable
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a modular food and beverage service bar that can be readily assembled and disassembled and easily changed according to desired design needs.
2. Related Art
Portable food and beverage service bars are well known in the prior art. A typical bar is a tall and narrow rolling cart that provides enough space for one bartender to serve one person at a time. There are several problems with the typical bar. The bar is non-modular and cannot be reduced in size for storing. Occasionally, long lines of people will be waiting to be served by one bartender one person at a time since the inside bar space accommodates only one bartender. An additional problem is the lack of versatility with respect to decor needs relating to corporate events, special meetings or theme events. Consequently, the industry resorts to building customized theme bars, which consumes significant resources and can only be used for one theme event.
Because of these problems with the prior art, it is apparent that there is a need for an improved and modified portable food and beverage service bar.
It is an object of the present invention to provide for a modular service bar that can be readily reassembled and disassembled repeatedly.
It is another object of the present invention to provide for a service bar that requires minimum storage space.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide for a service bar that has enough space to enable multiple bartenders to serve many people at a time and thus fostering social interaction between participants of social events.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide for service bar that readily changeable dxc3xa9cor as desired to fit a variety of different social and corporate themes.
Yet, it is another object of the invention to provide for a service bar section kit that can be easily assembled into a food and beverage service bar and disassembled again into a bar section kit.
A modular service bar includes a plurality of interchangeable sections, which can be readily connected to each other. Each section includes a plurality of spaced U-shaped aluminum box support members and each support member has an outer wall, an inner wall and a pair of side walls juxtaposed to form a lower horizontal box member, an elongated upright vertical box member and an upper horizontal box member. The upright member at its lower end is rigidly connected to the lower member, and the upper member is rigidly connected to an upper end of the upright member. The bar further includes a rectangular front panel for each section that has a top horizontal edge, a bottom horizontal edge, a proximal vertical edge and a distal vertical edge. The panel is generally overlying and covering the upright support members. The front panel has a front surface and a back surface juxtaposed to the outer wall of the upright support members, and the front panel is detachably affixed to the upright support members. The bar also includes a top plate that has a curved inner and outer edges, a top surface and a bottom surface juxtaposed to the outer wall of the upper support member and the top plate is detachably affixed to the upper support member.
The modular bar further includes a pair of trim bands sandwiching the front panel between them to enable readily replacement of the front panel to fit different decor needs. One of the trim band being disposed adjacent the bottom edge of the front panel and is fastened to the upright support members. The other trim band is disposed adjacent the top horizontal edge and is fastened to the upright support members.
Each of the support members includes a gusset positioned and affixed to and between the lower member and the upright member. Another gusset is positioned and affixed to and between the upper member and the upright member. The upper member includes a pair of knobs for supporting the top plate, which extends upwardly from the outer wall of the upper member to the bottom surface of the top plate.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the front panel is fastened to three spaced support members, a first support member positioned at the proximal vertical edge, a second support member positioned at the distal vertical edge, and a third support member positioned midway of the front panel.
Each section is placed adjacent to another section so that one support member at the proximal vertical edge of a first section is detachably connected to another support member at the distal vertical edge of a second section, and another support member at the distal vertical edge of the first section is adapted to be detachably connected to a further support member at the proximal vertical edge of the further identical section.
A plurality of sections can be arranged to form a variety of arrangements such as a quarter, half or full circular bar except for an egress passageway for the baretenders.